Energy Industryís Policy Isnít as Great as Itís Made out to Be

By Leigh Teixeira

Recently there has been a rise in energy prices but this comes as no surprise as the three major political parties in the country continue to eitherimplement or support policies that will continue to endanger industrial and domestic supplies.

The first mistake that government made was back in the 1980ís when the energy industry was privatised. It was promised that this would bring prices down but it didnít. At the moment there seems to be a Ďcartelí in place which operates at a benefit to their shareholders while their clients suffer.

The recently implemented Climate Change Act Ė which was supported by the three major political parties Ė proves that members of parliament have no idea of how technology works as they have pledged to reduce the UKís carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050. Experts say this wonít be possible and is a mere fantasy.

Gordon Hughes, a professor of Economics at Edinburgh University - and previously a senior advisor to the World Bank on energy Ė has gone before a commons committee and given evidence stating that to reach this target would mean building almost a hundred thousand wind energy turbines within the next 7 years. If this were even possible it would cost around £124 billion. This is ten times the amount of money it would cost to produce energy by conventional means.

Both the committees and the ministers involved with the energy industry feel that the evidence given by Gordon Hughes is irrelevant.

According to a new policy that has been implemented, Energy bills from 2013 will include a carbon tax. This means that by the year 2020 energy bills could almost double from what their current prices are. This will add an unnecessary burden on the average household as well as many businesses.

No other country has opted for similar policies. At the moment, the UK only contributes about 1.6 % of the global carbon emissions. This is the amount by which Chinaís carbon emissions increase annually.